To no one’s surprise, the FBI has been spying on American cell phones for years

It was possible to find out thanks to a declassified report published by the Office of the Directorate of National Intelligence.

That companies and entities, obviously mostly technological (like Google or Meta), have access to our personal data hasn’t been surprising to almost anyone for a long time. Therefore, when there is news related to this matter, it does not mean that the cry rose to heaven though How questionable is this resource, Clear. Now, if a government agency had access to this data, things might be more alarming.

This is exactly what this latest news is about He recently introduced TechCrunchsince a declassified report revealed it US intelligence and espionage agencies They were going to buy the personal data of their citizens. The report in question was published by the Office of the Directorate of National Intelligence (ODNI) and in it we can see that the agencies They buy information from the Americanswhich is commercially available (CAI), since it comes from smart phonesWeb tracking technologies such as Cookies and other destinations, including some traditional destinations such as public recordsamong others.

US intelligence and espionage agencies, such as the FBI, buy citizens’ data

The FBI has spent years spying on Americans’ cell phones

Obviously, the first thing one thinks of when they say that intelligence and espionage agencies in the United States buy their citizens’ data He’s in the FBI, and you’re doing well. About the data they usually get includes information from location of these peopleyour activity Surf the Internet, your information from the most used social networks and much more. Likewise, these organisms have also been reported They don’t buy that data directlybut they do so through data brokers, who they also call “information sellers”.

As usual, this whole situation has caused a lot of anxiety among American citizens, because despite their assurance that most of this data remains anonymous, it is possible that certain methods are being implemented through which it can be used. Removing anonymity and thus identifying people in the question. On the other hand, in an excerpt from the aforementioned declassified report, the following is stated: “In the wrong hands, secret knowledge obtained through CAI can Facilitate extortion, stalking, harassment and public defamationTherefore, the practice of misusing this data is not something they rule out, unfortunately. In addition, they also state that all of this information may contain some Implications for civil liberties.

CAI can reveal, for example, the detailed movements and associations of individuals and groups, revealing Political and religious activities, travel and expression. CAI could be used, for example, to identify everyone who attended a protest or rally based on their smartphone location or ad tracking records.”